I N T H E N I G H T K I T C H E N 3.31.2001
I'm not writing anything right now. My life is all about money issues at the moment and it's just not fun. If I think at all about it, I start getting really panicky. So, best not to write about it -- best to just deal with it. Yes? I'll be back soon. 3.28.2001
Buttermilk Biscuits Last night, T. and I had a wonderful dinner of grilled steak, grilled zucchini and buttermilk biscuits. I've never made biscuits from scratch before. It was fun and they were pretty tasty. 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits 1 1/3 cups buttermilk an egg wash made by beating 1 large egg with 1 tablespoon water Preheat oven to 450°F. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until combined well. With a pastry blender or your fingertips blend in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring with a fork to form a soft dough, and with floured hands knead dough gently 4 times in bowl. On a lightly floured surface pat dough out into a 1/2-inch-thick round. Cut out as many rounds as possible with a 2-inch round cutter dipped in flour and invert 1/2 inch apart onto a large baking sheet. Gather scraps into a ball. Pat out dough and cut out more rounds in same manner. Brush biscuits with egg wash and bake in middle of oven 12 minutes, or until golden. Cool biscuits on racks. Biscuits may be made 8 hours ahead and kept, wrapped well, at room temperature. Reheat biscuits, wrapped in foil, before serving. + + + The mirror portraits are becoming addictive.  3.25.2001
Herman Creek This is gonna be short as I have a lot of stuff to do today. Went on the hike yesterday. It was fun. Quiet. Serene. We only briefly came across a hiker above us on a switchback. We stopped for a break shortly thereafter and didn't see anyone else again. That's nice. There are three trails off of the Herman Creek trailhead. One very short one that's more of a picnic area off of the campground. A second that branches off along Herman Creek for four miles and is considered "moderate" in our guidebook (100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon). And, a third trail which goes up to the top and to something called Indian Point and does an 8 mile loop and is considered "difficult". Guess which one we did. Difficult! I'm in some serious pain today. Going up wasn't so bad though it was definitely exhausting. You gain 2600 feet of elevation going up. The forest is lush and the path soft. We saw some early-blooming wildflowers and a number of pretty Trillium (white, three-petal flowers). There were a few nice viewpoints of the Columbia River Gorge and where we stopped for a late lunch had a pretty view of Mt. Hood. We also saw (or we think we saw) a view of Mt. Adams and St. Helens on the way up. The way down was even steeper and really killed my knees. The forest was lovely, though and we got this view westward of the Gorge. It was one of two photos taken -- I really wasn't in a picture taking mood.  As you can see, it was starting to get a bit cloudy and misty. For the last 2 miles of the trail, we broke out our rain gear as it started drizzling on us. The trees kept most of it away but it really felt quite good. The day was actually lovely -- sunny with some overcast points and a slight breeze. When the rain started up, the wind also kicked up but it wasn't cold at all. Mmmm... the forest smelled so amazing after a few moments of rain. We left at 10 a.m. and got back at around 6 p.m. T. and I came home and took showers and then went out to the Horse Brass for fish 'n' chips and pints of sweet, perfect beer. We were so exhausted. I kept entertaining notions of just laying my head down on the table and going to sleep. It was a good day but I wouldn't pick that hike again. Everyone wanted to go up the difficult way so I agreed but the views weren't good enough for me to think it was worth it. Indian Point is actually this outcropping of rock in which you have to sort of wend your way out there using your hands to scramble over rock. I figured that the reason we were taking the difficult one was because the others wanted to scramble. Well, once we got up there no one did. Next time, I'm going along the creek which I think would be lovely. For me, it's all about getting to a point in which there is nothing but the sound of nature and I can sit on the ground, have a hearty well-deserved lunch and just soak it all in. 
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